Gold Jewelry is Prohibited for Men, Other Metals Permissible
✍ Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
For men, wearing gold jewelry is haram, while jewelry made from other metals is not forbidden.
Hadith of Abu Musa (رضي الله عنه)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
أحل الذهب والـحـريـر للإناث من أمتى و حرم على ذكورها
“Gold and silk have been made lawful for the women of my Ummah and forbidden for its men.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Tirmidhi, Tirmidhi: 1720, Kitāb al-Libās: Bāb mā jāʾa fī al-ḥarīr wa al-dhahab; Ibn Abī Shaybah: 8/346; Ahmad: 4/392; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 4/251; al-Bayhaqī al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 2/425; Ṭayālisī: 1820]
Evidence for the Permissibility of Silver and Other Metals
① Qur’anic Evidence
قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ
“Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants?”
[al-Aʿrāf: 32]
② Qur’anic Evidence
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ
“It is He who created for you all that is in the earth.”
[al-Baqarah: 29]
③ Hadith of Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
عليكم بالفضه فالعبوا بها كيف شئتم
“Adopt silver and make use of it as you wish.”
[Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 3565; Abū Dāwūd: 4236; Ahmad: 2/378; al-Bayhaqī al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 4/140]
④ The Sword of the Prophet ﷺ was Decorated with Silver
[Zād al-Maʿād: 1/33]
⑤ Hadith of Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما)
He narrated:
أن رسول الله اتخذ خاتما من ذهب أو فضه وجعل فصه مما يلى كفه و نقش فيه محمد رسول الله...
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had a ring made of gold or silver. He placed its stone towards his palm and engraved upon it ‘Muhammad, Messenger of Allah.’ When the people began to make rings like it, the Prophet ﷺ threw it away and said: ‘I will never wear it again.’ Thereafter, he had a ring made of silver, and the people also made silver rings. Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) said: After the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr wore this ring, then ʿUmar, then ʿUthman, until it fell from ʿUthman’s hand into the well of Arīs.”
[Bukhārī: 5866, Kitāb al-Libās: Bāb Khātam al-Fiḍḍah]
Conclusion:- Gold jewelry is strictly haram for men.
- Silver and other metals are permissible, as evidenced by Qur’an, Hadith, and the practice of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions.
